Is resume optimizing cheating?So recently I reposted a few posts to help people looking for work. One of the posts was about optimizing a resume for ATS and resume databases. I posted or reposted it, and got some interesting feedback form a few recruiters. One said I was telling their secrets, that by telling candidates how to optimize their resumes it will mean they will have more junk resumes to read. Another said it was cheating or falsifying a resume.

I replied to both. For the first I said, you can look at it that way or you can look at it as an opportunity to find great resumes that you might have overlooked because you were searching for one key word that was not in a candidates resume. Example I used was if you are looking for a “Visual Basic” developer and all you do is look for “Visual Basic” then every candidate who uses VB instead will not get pulled up. Now of course I do know that most experienced recruiters will search under both terms knowing they are the same. However there are allot of young in experienced database recruiters who will not. Also add in you might be looking for something allot more involved than VB and there might be other terms that can be used or the skill or software was called something else at one time. This will especially help recruiters who do not do research prior to sourcing.

For the second I simply said how is it cheating? How is it falsifying anything? All you are doing is ensuring the skills you have can be picked up no matter what buzz words are used to source. You are not lying, just optimizing there is a huge difference. I went on to ask are you cheating or falsifying a job description (JD) when you optimize it? Of course not you are simply ensuring that the JD will come up in a search as close to the top as possible no matter what word the candidates searches for. It is no difference for a candidates and their resume.

In the end they both reluctantly agreed with me. So the morale is Optimizing is not cheating it is simply smart.

Project Management (PM) staffing style!!One way I have found to be very successful as a staffing professional is to Treat every opening like a project and use the basic PM steps to ensure you do the job right. Step one is to do needs analysis. This is the same thing as your first meeting with your client to determine what they need, write the JD etc.. Then you go on to the next step and so on till the position is filled.

There are six main steps in managing a project.

1. Define the problem-Your client has an opening and you meet with him to determine the opening and write JD.

2. Develop Solution Options-you decide on whether this can be filled internally or externally and the process that will be used.

3. Plan the Project-You create a sourcing plan.

4. Execute-you execute on the sourcing plan, this includes interviewing, screening, etc.

5. Monitor & Control Progress-you do reporting and have weekly or bi-weekly meeting with hiring manager and team to discuss progress.

6. Close project-Hire made, and if time allows you and the Hiring Manager and team have a meeting to discuss what went well, and what could be done better.

Of course some steps take less time than others, and can be done at the same time. The key is communication and documentation. But when you treat each position like an individual project, and use PM techniques, it becomes much much easier.

Using 5W&H is the key to everythingThe 5W&H stands for; who, what, when, where, how and why. If we are doing things right these 6 words are always used, will always provide the information and answers we need and are the key to success.For example doing research prior to sourcing. When doing this research you should, as a minimum be asking the following questions;Whowould have these kinds of skills, who might know people with these skills etcWhatare these skills used for, cloud, security. What other names or acronyms might these skills go by? etcWhenare they used, frontend, backend etcWhereare they used, what companies, what locations etcHoware they used, what operating systems (OS) etcWhydo these skills go together, why do they work with this OS, why are they used etcNow these same 6 words can be used in any situation and will help be a guide for things to do and ask to help us do our jobs. Another example the intake meeting, were we meet the hiring manager (HM) to discuss the new opening. Things we should ask as a minimum areWhois currently doing this job, who should be on the phone screen etcWhatwill this person be working on, are the have to have skills, nice to have etcWhendo we need it filled by, when can you do phone screens etcWheredoes it need to be located, where do you recommend we look, etcHowoften do you want to have update meetings etcWhyare we lookingSo as you can see if you keep in mind the 5W&H rule you will always have a plan, always have a basis for your questions, for answers you need for just about anything.

Don’t forget to Sell the Candidate Hiring Manager!!Every candidate should leave “your Company” with a positive impression regardless of the outcome of the interview. All candidates have friends who will inevitably hear about positive or negative experiences while interviewing.It is especially important to sell candidates whom we expect to offer.Some reasons to sell “your Company” and your group:

Tough competition for talented people we want to hire.

Candidates often interview with more than one company.

Candidates often interview with more than one group within “your Company”.

Some candidates are not actively looking for jobs and were directly recruited.

Many candidates relocate. Before a person is willing to uproot their family they must feel strongly about their decision to come to “your Company”.

Selling “your Company”The key to selling “your Company” is to try to understand what issues the candidate has. Sometimes candidates are not sure that “your Company” is the right company. They may have heard negative things, the job may not seem right or they might not want to relocate. You can often gain insight into a candidate's concerns by allowing them to ask questions. It is important to truthfully address concerns and highlight the positive aspects of a career at “your Company”.Some selling points to remember:

Opportunity to work with really smart, motivated people.

Our strategic position within the market.

Market leadership.

An individual’s ability to make a difference quickly (give examples).

Breadth of opportunity—we have products in almost every major category.

The best way to convince a candidate to come here is to be enthusiastic about your job, your group, the company and the area.Selling Your GroupSelling your group is an extension of selling “your Company”. You should describe what your group is doing, why you are excited about it and why it is significant.Some other things you may want to mention:

What your development process looks like.

Individual impact.

Vision of group.

Fun aspects of your group.

Team strengths.

Things to Remember

Don't sell against other groups; ultimately the decision to come to “your Company” is the most important.

Don't use a hard sell; people react negatively to this. A soft sell is much better received.